Rhys Millen Makes Record Run at Pikes Peak

Winning by a hair would have been an improvement for Rhys Millen, who came away from Pikes Peak as the King of the Mountain by a scant 0.017 second. That’s right, after cutting 156 apexes and climbing to 14,100 feet, the difference was 17 hundredths of a second. Millen and his Time Attack–class Hyundai Genesis coupe completed the hillclimb in 9:46.164. The unlucky runner-up, Romain Dumas, winner of the ’10 24 Hours of Le Mans, and his Open class Porsche GR3R put up a 9:46.181. Millen’s run broke Nobuhiro Tajima’s previous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb course record by more than five seconds. “With the newly paved section of the course and the hot weather conditions, a lot of people failed or crashed. Our car’s balance remained the same from practice to race day using these Hankook F200 tires this entire run. Even on a slick tire and torrential downpour in the last mile and a half, with the heat we were able to achieve in the tires, the grip was still adequate, and we were able to produce a new world record,” said a jubilant Millen.

With the newly paved section of the course and the hot weather conditions, a lot of people failed or crashed.